Danny Polo

A versatile clarinetist, Danny Polo was one of the finer (if unheralded) swing soloists of the big band era. He picked up the clarinet while quite young (his father was a clarinetist too), playing with a marching band when he was eight. He had a duo as a teenager with pianist Claude Thornhill. Polo worked with Elmer Schoebel in 1923, visited New Orleans with Merritt Brunies' Band and had stints with Arnold Johnson, Ben Bernie and Jean Goldkette (for three months filling in for Don Murray in 1926). After working with Paul Ash, Polo (along with drummer Dave Tough) went to Europe...